The United States saw a dangerous competitor in the PRC, setting up the allied states against the “enemy”, however, oddly enough, in Germany, cooperation with Beijing gives people much greater preference than partnership with the unpredictable Washington writes “Frankfurter Allgemeine”, based on data from a sociological survey conducted by the organization “Atlantic Bridge” and the institute for the study of public opinion “Civey”.
So, most of the respondents called China a more reliable partner for Germany than the United States. Moreover, cooperation with Washington was called “negative” by 85 percent of respondents. The Germans are convinced that Berlin needs to disengage from this alliance.
At the same time, the chairman of the parliamentary committee on international affairs, Norbert Röttgen, said that such results of the poll are “not surprising, although they are tragic.” He drew attention to the fact that the Germans are against raising military spending, in particular – contributions to NATO, where they demand 2% of GDP.
German political scientist Michael Vertz, in turn, stated that the “neutral mood” is preserved in the Federal Republic of Germany, which is facilitated by the inherent German stinginess even in the face of global changes. In his opinion, this is precisely the reason why 80 percent of the respondents spoke out against the operations of the German Armed Forces in other countries.
The results of the survey are a kind of impetus for expanding Germany’s foreign policy vector and rethinking its role in the world, Rötttgen said. He emphasizes that the example of anti-Russian sanctions demonstrates that intense discussion leads to a better understanding of the interests of a country.